Editorial: Springing Ryan from jail would send wrong signals

Friday

Nov 28, 2008 at 12:01 AMNov 28, 2008 at 9:41 PM

Sen. Dick Durbin suggested earlier this week that he's thinking about asking a departing President Bush to commute the prison sentence of former Gov. George Ryan. Should that happen, it would send a terrible message to unscrupulous politicians everywhere, but especially in an Illinois that has far too many of them.

Sen. Dick Durbin suggested earlier this week that he's thinking about asking a departing President Bush to commute the prison sentence of former Gov. George Ryan. Should that happen, it would send a terrible message to unscrupulous politicians everywhere, but especially in an Illinois that has far too many of them.

Ryan was convicted in 2006 on a variety of racketeering, fraud and corruption charges and sentenced to 6 1/2 years in federal prison. He has served only about a year of that time.

On the surface, reasonable people can argue that Durbin's proposal is a nod to compassion and common sense. The 74-year-old Ryan has already forfeited his pension, they say. His sunset years are being spent away from his family, including his wife, Lura Lynn. He's not going to offend again, he's been punished enough and so have taxpayers whose money is better spent locking up violent criminals. The conviction itself would still hang over Ryan's name and reputation.

But Ryan is not at death's door, to our knowledge, nor is he imprisoned in a gulag beyond the reach of his family. By some accounts Ryan actually is in better health - he's slimmed down, is managing his diabetes and spends time walking and reading when he's not sweeping the floors on the prison's work detail. His wife, recovering from an aneurysm, feels well enough to visit her husband at the prison in Terre Haute, Ind., each week alongside at least one child, and they talk frequently on the phone.

For the record, we're saddened that this fate befell Ryan at his age, saddened his wife is ailing and lonely, saddened he hasn't been seeing his legion of grandchildren. No doubt the holidays are a tough time for them. But we're also saddened that "the state of Illinois was for sale" while he helped run it, in the words of federal prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald. In short, George Ryan brought all of this upon himself. Being old, ill or practically penniless describes many a prisoner, but that does not erase their misdeeds, nor does it merit them a forgiving turn from a retiring president.

We're not talking about a single, isolated incident of corruption, but a years-long pattern of abuses that followed Ryan up the political food chain. He wasn't merely taken advantage of by friends seeking to prey on his good nature. He was a full and knowing participant in criminal acts.

What message would a commutation send to the would-be corrupt looking to use the powers of their office to peddle their influence for personal gain? What message would it send to prosecutors working hard to clean Illinois of such corruption only to have it all swept away with a get-out-of-jail-free card? And perhaps most importantly, what message would it send to the Rev. Duane and Janet Willis, the parents of six children who perished in a fiery van accident precipitated by another motorist who shouldn't have been on the road in the first place - collateral damage in the licenses-for-bribes scandal that ultimately brought Ryan down?

There's less deterrent to bad behavior when those inclined to take such risks know that among their apologists are a U.S. senator and a president who can make all those attendant consequences go away with the stroke of a pen.

Many in this state never thought that Ryan would ever see the inside of a prison. To set him free now, this soon, would just confirm their cynicism about the judicial system, just prove that there are two systems of justice, one for ordinary people and one for the well-connected. Illinois' culture of corruption could become that much harder to defeat. The Land of Lincoln's citizens and taxpayers can afford that least of all.

Peoria Journal Star

Never miss a story

Choose the plan that's right for you.
Digital access or digital and print delivery.